Characterization of Some Soils of the Miombo Woodlands Ecosystem of Kitonga Forest Reserve, Iringa, Tanzania: Physicochemical Properties and Classification
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Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society Characterization of some soils of the Miombo Woodlands Ecosystem of Kitonga Forest Reserve, Iringa, Tanzania: Physicochemical properties and classification H.B., Shelukindo1, B.M., Msanya1, E., Semu1, S.B., Mwango1, P.K.T. Munishi2, and B.R. Singh3 1Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Box 3010, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania 2Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Box 3010, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania 3Department of Plant Science and Environment Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box As- Norway 1 Corresponding author: [email protected]. Tel: +255784413162 (Mobile) Abstract Understanding the soil types of an area is the basis for sustainable soil use and management. Miombo woodland soils have significant implications in global climate change processes. Few studies have characterized and classified the soils of the miombo woodland ecosystem of Tanzania. The current study was carried out to map and classify soils of the Kitonga Forest Reserve, which is a typical miombo woodland ecosystem, in order to generate relevant information for use and management by stakeholders. The dominant soil types of the miombo woodland ecosystem of Kitonga Forest Reserve were characterized and classified using standard soil survey methods. Ten soil profiles were excavated and described using standard methods to represent soils of the mapped area. Standard laboratory soil physical and chemical analyses were carried out to enable classification of the soils. According to the World Reference Base (WRB) for Soil Resources system the soils were classified as Cambisols, Leptosol and Fluvisols. In the USDA Soil Taxonomy the soils were classified as Inceptisols and Entisols. Different soil types differed in physicochemical properties, hence exhibit differences in their potentials and constraints for management and use. Topographical features played a very important role in soil formation. Sustainable management of miombo woodlands ecosystem soils requires reduced deforestation and reduced land degradation. The information obtained would be useful in planning management strategies of miombo woodlands ecosystem with similar ecological conditions. Key words: Miombo woodlands ecosystem, soil physico-chemical properties, soil classification, Kitonga Forest Reserve, Tanzania. Introduction Soils vary greatly across the landscape and are influenced by topographical features. The soils of the miombo woodland ecosystems are important globally in climate change processes (Munishi et al., 2011). However, few studies have characterized and classified the soils in Tanzania and especially those of the miombo woodlands ecosystem (Msanya et al., 2003). In Tanzania, the miombo woodland ecosystem is found, among other places, in the Kitonga Forest Reserve (KFR). Understanding the dominant soil types and characteristics of the miombo woodlands ecosystem soils in Tanzania would facilitate availability of information on potentials and constraints of soils for different management and uses which will contribute to reduced disturbances and land degradation. The miombo woodlands, which cover about 31.62 million hectares or 93% of the total forested land area in Tanzania, are important as they provide diverse ecosystem services which support livelihoods to adjacent communities (FAO, 2009). The major aim of the study was to study the dominant soil types in the miombo woodlands in the KFR with the specific objectives: to map the soils and their spatial distribution over the study area to characterize the soils based on physicochemical properties to classify the soils using the World Reference Base (WRB) for Soil Resource and (FAO, 2006) and the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Taxonomy system (Soil Survey Staff, 2010) Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society to provide data for use by stakeholders in planning sustainable land management in miombo woodlands. Materials and methods Study site The KFR is located in Kilolo District, Iringa Region, on the northern and southern sides of the Iringa- Morogoro road, at 07°35' - 07°43'S; and 37°07' - 37°10'E. The altitude varies from 660- 1880 m above sea level, with rainfall ranging from 540 mm to 900 mm, with a mean of 720 mm. The temperatures range from 13.5 to 24.7 0C, with maximum temperatures in July to October (Shirima et al., 2011). Figure 1 shows the location of the study area. Detailed site characteristics of the study area are presented in Table 1. Methodology Field Methods Using standard procedures (FAO-WRB, 2006); Munsell Color Co., 1992), ten soil profiles were located using the Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and were examined, described and samples collected from natural horizons. In each profile pit, disturbed and undisturbed samples were taken from each horizon for physical and chemical analysis in the laboratory. Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society Figure 1: Map showing the study area (Source: Kilolo District Profile, 2010) Laboratory Methods Physical and chemical analyses were conducted as follows. The bulk density was determined using the core method (Black & Hartge, 1986), and texture was determined by the hydrometer method (Day, 1965). The pH was measured in water and 1 M CaCl2 at a ratio of 1:2.5 soil: water and soil: Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society CaCl2, respectively (McLean, 1986). Organic carbon was determined by the wet oxidation method (Nelson & Sommers, 1982) and converted to Table 1: Salient features of the study area- Kitonga Forest Reserve Altitude Location Profile Slope Land form Slope SMR STR (masl) No. gradient form 831 5 25 Lower slope Straight Ustic Thermic 7° 39' 53.68'' S 928 3 15 V- Shaped Concave Acquic Thermic 7° 38' 32.5'' S Valley bottom 980 4 12 Ridge summit Convex Ustic Thermic 7° 39' 45.14'' S (Lower) 1083 2 17 Ridge Middle Straight Ustic Thermic slope 1241 8 10 U- Shaped Concave Acquic Mesic Valley bottom 1258 9 10 Foot slope Straight Ustic Mesic 1320 10 22 Ridge Lower Straight Ustic Mesic 7° 38' 59.93'' S slope 1377 7 25 Ridge Middle Straight Ustic Mesic slope 1548 6 10 U-Shaped Concave Ustic Mesic Valley bottom 1598 36° 10' 30.22'' E 1 1 Ridge Summit Convex Ustic Mesic SMR= soil moisture regime STR= soil temperature regime organic matter by multiplying by a factor of 1.724. Total N was determined using the micro-Kjeldahl digestion- distillation method as described by Bremner and Mulvaney (1982). Extractable phosphorus was determined using filtrates extracted by the Bray and Kurtz-1 method (Bray and Kurtz, 1945) and determined by spectrophotometer (Watanabe and Olsen, 1965). The exchangeable bases (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+) were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Thomas, 1982). Soil classification Using field and laboratory data, the soils were classified to tier-2 of the FAO World Reference Base (FAO-WRB, 2006), and to subgroup level of the USDA Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2010). Results and discussion Physical and chemical properties of the soils Selected physical and chemical properties of the soils are indicated in Table 2. The soils varied in physicochemical properties. They are well drained, dominantly coarse textured and varied from sand and sandy loam texture in the surface to sandy clay loam in the subsurface. The coarse textured soils with more than 65% sand and less than 18% clay have low nutrient fertility status. Vagen and Winowiecki (2013), in their study conducted in Kenya (Dambidolo) and Tanzania (Mbinga), reported differences in nutrient storage capacity of soils due to varying in sand contents. Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society According to Baize (1993), EUROCONSULT (1989) and Landon (1991), the majority of soils were grouped as acidic. The soil pH ranged from strongly acid (5.1) to neutral (6.8) with a mean pH of 5.9 which is favorable for the growth of woodlands in mountainous and forest areas. The OC content was rated as very low (0.1%) to very high (4.4%) with mean of (2.6%) (medium). The cation exchange capacity (CEC- NH4OAc) ranged from very low (3 cmol (+)/kg) to medium (18 cmol (+)/kg). Generally, the soils are poor in nutrients. The low nutrient status of the soils across the study area could be attributed to frequent fires and continual deforestation of the miombo woodlands ecosystem. Frost (1996) observed a similar trend in the soils of miombo woodlands in Tabora (Tanzania), which are inherently poor in nutrients but with a wide variation in fertility. Soil mapping units, soil classification and their relationship to topography The detailed classification of soils representative of the mapping units of Kitonga Forest Reserve is shown in Table 3. The soils were classified as Cambisols, Leptosols and Fluvisols (FAO-WRB, 2006) or Inceptisols and Entisols (USDA Soil Taxonomy). Different soil types were found under specific topographical features. Cambisols (Inceptisols) were found on ridge summit slopes with convex slopes, Fluvisols (Entisols) were found on U and V shaped valley bottoms with concave slopes, and Leptosols were found on ridge middle slopes with straight slopes (c.f Table 1). This explains the contribution of topographical features (landforms) in forming different soil types. The findings agreed with those of Abebayehu (2013) that topographic features affect physical and chemical properties of the soils. Table 4 gives a summary of the mapping units and their areal extent with Cambisols dominating (70%). Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society Table 2: Selected physico-chemical properties of soils of Kitonga Forest Reserve Profile No. Horizon Depth (cm) pH % Texture Text.